Science Education

As today's parents know all too well, children can turn to a multitude of multi-media choices for entertainment: videos, gaming systems, computers, TVs and smartphones. Banking on that interactive trend, two professional South Florida storytellers have launched a new multi-platform program that is designed to teach, as well as entertain. "We are presenting ideas in a really fun, funny and interactive way," said Riley Roam, co-creator of the STEAM Trunk Circus show, which debuted Nov. 9 at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts.

Recently five teachers received awards for exceptional service in the field of science education. The awards were presented by the Palm Beach County Science Educators Association president Stephanie Webster at this year's science symposium at Seminole Ridge High School over the summer. Carolyn Slygh received the 2014 Science Hall of Fame Award for her dedication and distinguished accomplishments as a science teacher in Palm Beach County for almost 30 years. Slygh received the William T. Dwyer Award for Excellence in Education in 2012 and was a national finalist for the Biotechnology Educator Award in 2007.

A national commission will recommend sweeping changes today in science education in public schools, saying that existing curricula try to cover too much, do not teach enough practical application and fail to integrate science with math and technology. The four-year study, Benchmarks for Science Literacy, offers broad recommendations for what students should know after the second, fifth, eighth and 12th grades. Students as young as 5 should receive regular science lessons - not scattered experiments such as collecting snowflakes and learning that all have six points - and these lessons should be given as often as reading or arithmetic, the study said.

As today's parents know all too well, children can turn to a multitude of multi-media choices for entertainment: videos, gaming systems, computers, TVs and smartphones. Banking on that interactive trend, two professional South Florida storytellers have launched a new multi-platform program that is designed to teach, as well as entertain. "We are presenting ideas in a really fun, funny and interactive way," said Riley Roam, co-creator of the STEAM Trunk Circus show, which debuted Nov. 9 at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts.

Recent comments on so-called "intelligent design" are perplexing to a person of faith. To say that "I believe because science can't explain -- or -- " is a totally anti-religious position. In fact, philosophers call it the "god of the gaps" approach. In 1805, science couldn't explain the evolution of the eye. One writer said: "Aha, intelligent design." Two hundred years later, science can clearly explain the evolution of some 40 different types of eyes in nature (although pseudo-religious authors still use that tired argument)

Florida has written new standards for teaching science that for the first time say public school students need to learn about evolution. The proposed science standards, released Friday, call evolution one of the "big ideas" that must be taught as part of in-depth, hands-on learning. Florida's plan is part of a larger push to improve science education, but could set off a battle over beliefs. Current standards do not use the word evolution - long a controversial word in education - but do require teaching evolutionary concepts in public schools.

Is science education important to Florida? That is a relevant question after analyzing the 2009 science FCAT results released last week. There were minimal gains of one or two percent in the lower grades, but a disappointing 63 percent of 11th graders failed. There are bright spots in a few counties, but overall we are either mired in the tar pit of an inadequate testing system for science, or our students have a shockingly poor understanding of basic concepts. Quite likely, both explanations are equally valid.

Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, wrote that the purpose of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was to create a "wall of separation between Church and State." Jefferson, a keen student of history, did not want the state-church sponsored religious persecution and bloodshed evidenced throughout Europe's history to be repeated in America. The First Amendment prevents government from establishing or promoting religion, or favoring one religion over another. It also provides and protects the freedom of individuals to practice any religion they choose, or none at all. This encourages religious and cultural diversity which strengthens our country.

In far-reaching recommendations intended to improve science literacy, a national panel says students should be exposed to science at earlier ages, teachers should receive better training and curriculums should offer more real-life applications. The recommendations, released on Thursday, acknowledge that science instruction generally fails to give students challenging, inventive assignments and that students are often asked to memorize scientific theories and facts in a vacuum. "There is no doubt that excellent teachers throughout the country are doing much of what we are talking about in teaching science for understanding," said Dr. Richard Klausner, the panel's chairman and chief of the Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md. "What we see the standards as doing is validating these superb teachers and encouraging others to do the same," Klausner said.

Max Planck Society President Peter Gruss stated last week, "If you want to form a know- ledge-based economy, what you need at the heart of the matter is scientific excellency." We couldn't agree more. The South Florida Science Museum's Discovery Campaign is raising funds to build a major new science center that will create the science education infrastructure our growing economy demands. As South Florida becomes more of a hub for biotechnology business, the need for "excellency" in science education to create a knowledge-based workforce becomes critical.

Maor, a gifted high school student in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, looked forward to his summer break. He was going to earn some money, get his driver's license and goof off with friends. So when his school principal asked him to attend a summer study program at Tel Aviv University, Maor balked. What about his big plans? But Maor's father, a construction laborer, insisted on his son's going. No one in the family had ever even set foot on university grounds, and Maor was not going to miss this chance.

Americans' growing disinterest in organized religion is reason for some South Florida science enthusiasts to rejoice. Hundreds are expected on Feb. 16 for festivities celebrating Darwin Day, an international commemoration dedicated to scientific inquiry and the accomplishments of Charles Darwin, who in 1838 brainstormed the theory of evolution by natural selection. The bash begins at noon at Broward College's north campus in Coconut Creek. Atheists and freethinkers, often derided as secular humanists and heretics, will celebrate not only Darwin's revolutionary research but a recent Pew poll that shows almost 20 percent of Americans lack a religious affiliation, up from about 15 percent five years ago. Some see these surveys as proof that the God-centered culture that often criticizes them is coming around to their point of view.

Marilyn Zaragoza will be representing Florida in the upcoming national Mom Congress. Zaragoza, a biology and chemistry teacher at Everglades High School in Miramar, was nominated by a fellow teacher for the second annual Mom Congress in Washington, D.C., hosted by Parenting magazine and Georgetown University. The conference, which runs April 10 through 13, includes several guests from the world of education, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. A total of 51 "mom" representatives will cover all the states, as well as the District of Columbia.

Is science education important to Florida? That is a relevant question after analyzing the 2009 science FCAT results released last week. There were minimal gains of one or two percent in the lower grades, but a disappointing 63 percent of 11th graders failed. There are bright spots in a few counties, but overall we are either mired in the tar pit of an inadequate testing system for science, or our students have a shockingly poor understanding of basic concepts. Quite likely, both explanations are equally valid.

, Texas - Social conservatives lost another fight over evolution Friday when the Texas Board of Education stripped two provisions from proposed science standards that would have raised questions about key principles of the scientific theory. In identical 8-7 votes, board members removed two sections that would have required students in high school biology classes to study the "sufficiency or insufficiency" of common ancestry and natural selection of species. Both are principles of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

There will come a day, hopefully soon, when Florida's Board of Education will evolve into a group with guts and spine. But not just yet. Last week, state education officials weaseled their way out of making a strong, decisive decision on the controversy over adding the word "evolution" to science standards. Instead of adding "evolution" to the standards and taking heat for maybe a day or two, they appeased religious activists and some educators and legislators who wanted equal time for creationism and intelligent design in science education.

Franklyn M. Branley, a persistent advocate for improving science education for children both as the chairman of the Hayden Planetarium and as the author of more than 140 books, died on Sunday in Brunswick, Maine. He was 86. Mr. Branley took the helm of the planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan at the height of the space race. He threw the planetarium into the fight for better education, especially in astronomy, as America pursued science education as part of the Cold War. Mr. Branley helped originate a famous series of more than 100 books about science called Let's-Read-and-Find-Out science books.

If it's on the FCAT, then it's got be important. So science is definitely important. With the emphasis on science education a necessary reality, it'd be a nice plus for South Florida to have strong science museums to back up educators and a public more interested in the field. Fort Lauderdale's Museum of Discovery and Science, which draws about 400,000 visitors a year, has picked a good time to expand in size and scope. Maybe it's not a great time to be raising $20 million to cover the growth, considering economic uncertainties, but it's a worthy endeavor nonetheless.

Paul Cottle, Professor of Physics Florida State University Tallahassee, October 27, 2007

Leslie Postal's fine article on the proposed science standards for schools (Oct. 21) - in which I was quoted - correctly identified several important improvements over the current standards. However, improving the standards is only the first step. The new standards will not improve teaching and learning in science unless all of our teachers are prepared to provide world-class instruction. To achieve this, we must dramatically improve our programs for educating new science teachers and providing professional development opportunities for the teachers we already have in the classroom.

Florida has written new standards for teaching science that for the first time say public school students need to learn about evolution. The proposed science standards, released Friday, call evolution one of the "big ideas" that must be taught as part of in-depth, hands-on learning. Florida's plan is part of a larger push to improve science education, but could set off a battle over beliefs. Current standards do not use the word evolution - long a controversial word in education - but do require teaching evolutionary concepts in public schools.